Spindle-driving mechanism.



No. M093. Patented Oct. |4,-|9o2.

H. w. BRACKEN.

SPINDLE DRIVING MECHANISM.

(Application filed Apr. 4, 1902.)

UNiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HOXVARD XV. BRAOKEN, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO DRAPER COMPANY, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

SPINDLE-DRIVING MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 711,093, dated October 14, 1902.

Application filed April 4, 1902. Serial No. 101,331. kNo model.)

To all whom it may concern: form tension in mass and also to approximate Be it known thatl, HOWARD \V. BRAOKEN, more nearly to a uniform tension of the ina citizen of the United States, and a resident dividual bands.

of Ilopedale, county of Worcester, State of The various novel features of my invention Massachusetts, have invented an Improvewill be hereinafter described, and particu- 55 mentin Spindle-Driving Mechanism, of which larly pointed out inthe following claims,

the following description, in connection with Figure 1 is an end elevation of a portion of the accompanying drawings, is a specificaa spinning, twisting, or similar frame with tiou, like letters on the drawings represeut one embodiment of my invention applied :0 ing like parts. thereto; and Fig. 2 isatop or plan view there- 60 'lhisinvention relatesio spinning, twisting, of, the shaft of the main or positively-actuor similar machines wherein fibrous material ated drivingcyliuder being broken off and is wound upon rotating spindles; and it has the usual rotating mechanism omitted, as it for its object the production of novel mechforms no part of my present invention.

anism for driving the spindles of such ma- While I have herein shown my invention 65 chines. Heretofore in machines of this char-v applied to a short frame or to a section of a acter the spindles have been driven in varilong frame, it is to be understood that the ouswaysas, forinstance, by arotatingdrum principle involved will be the same whatever or cylinder, which transmits motion to the the length of the driving cylinders and bands in engagement with the whirls of the whether each cylinder is continuous or made 70 spindles. So far as I am aware such cylinin several sections, according to the length ders have been mounted in fixed bearings, of the'frarne, or for other reasons. and it is well known that the bands vary in- The end frames A, spindle-rails B Oat the dividually as to their tension and also in mass front and back of the frame, respectively,

according to the dampness or dryness of the the two sets of rotatable spindles b 0 75 weather and also between starting up the mill mounted in said rails, respectively, and the in the morning and afterward when the mill whirls b 0 may be and are all of usual or wellis in regular established operation. known construction, as may be the other To start up the machinery in a spinningparts of the frame not herein shown and 0 room requires considerably more power than forming no part of my'present invention. A 80 is necessary to thereafter maintain it runcrossgirth A of each end frame supports two ningsay an hour afterit has started-and it like driving cylinders or drums D E, the forhas been found that this difference is princi mer haviugits journals d rotatably mounted pally due to the fact that the driving-bands 'in fixed bearings a on the cross-girths A contractovernight,andsorequiremorepower while the journals e of the cylinder E are 85 to drive the frames. After the latter have rotatably mounted in movable journal boxes been run for a while the bands stretch someor bearings a which are slidably mounted what andthepowerrequired to run the frames in guideways a on seats a, secured to or decreases. This additional power has been forming part of the cross-girths A The 40 estimated at twenty-five per cent. of the toguideways a are shown as having undercut 9o tal power required to drive the frames, and sides to prevent any lifting tendency of the obviously the maximum power which is nec-. bearings a and said guideways are preferessary to start up and establish the running ably made inclined at an angle of substanof any given number of frames mustbe protially forty-five degrees sloping toward the vided, notwithstanding the fact that such fixed bearings a The cylinders 'D E, which 5 maxim um poweris entirely unnecessary withmay be termed the main and auxiliary in a short time after starting up. cylinders, respectively, are arranged with By my present invention I provide means their axes in parallelism and midway befor driving the spindles in such manner that tween the two sets of spindles b e and in the bands are subjected to substantially uniactual practice the cylinders are so set that too naturally their tops would be about threefourths of an inch below a horizontal plane passed through the centers of the spindlewhirls. As herein shown, the spindles are driven by individual bands, the spindles being driven by endless bands d, passed around the main cylinder D and the whirls c, the lower runs, as d, of the said bands being carried over and contacting with about one-sixth of the circumference of the auxiliary cylinder, as clearly shown in the drawings. The spindles b are driven by endless bands e, passed around the auxiliary cylinder E and the whirls b, the lower runs, as e, of said bands being carriedover and contacting with about one-sixth of the circumference of vthe main cylinder D. Arrows and 12, Fig. 1, show the rotation of the two cylinders, and it will be manifest therefrom that the rotative motion transmitted to the cylinder E by the contact of the lower runs (1 of the bands cl is assisted by the contact of the lower runs a of bands 0 with the surface of the main cylinder D. The latter cylinder is directly and positively driven from any suitable source of power (not shown) connected by belting or gearing with the journal d of said cylinder. While the main cylinderD is thus directly driven, the auxiliary cylinder E is indirectly driven therefrom through the medium of the contacting lower runs of both sets of bands 01 and e,

A sheavefis shown mounted on each end frame, and over each sheave a cord or other flexible band f is passed, one end of each being secured to a bearing a while its other depending end has attached to it an adjustable weight F. The tension of the bands e tends to draw the cylinder E toward the cylinder D, and the downward pressure of the lower runs of the bands 61 tends to depress the cylinder E, the resultant of such forces acting substantially along the direction of the guideways a downward, and this tendency is resisted by the weights F, which act upon the cylinder in the opposite direction. By regulating or adjusting the weights the tension exerted upon the sets of drivingbands by the cylinder E can be varied according to circumstances with great accuracy. I

It will be manifest that after shutting down, the contraction of the bands in the mass will act with greater or less force, according to the amount of contraction, to draw the auxiliary cylinder E downward against the pull of its lifting means; but such movement slightly reduces the pressure of the cylinder on the bands cl, and by its movement toward the spindles b the bands 6 are slightly slackened, the result as a whole being a compensation for the contraction of the bands, so that their tension remains substantially the same. When the frame has been started and run for a time and the bands slacken, the auxiliary cylinder is then moved away from the main cylinder and upward against the lower runs of the bands d, so that the stretch or extension of both sets of bands will be compensated and the tension maintained substantially uniform. While the tension of the bands in the mass is thus maintained with substantial uniformity through varying conditions, there is also a tendency to approximate more nearly to a uniform tension of the individual bands. Inasmuch as the band tension is maintained substantially unform by my invention, it follows that the power required to drive the frame is made more uniform, and as a considerable additional power for starting is rendered unnecessary a saving in power is effected.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In spinning, twisting and similar machines, two opposed sets. of spindles, drivingbands therefor; main and auxiliary drivingr cylinders, arranged in parallelism between the sets of spindles; fixed bearings for the main, positively-driven cylinder, the drivingbands from each set of spindles passing around the driving-cylinder farthest therefrom and with their lower runs in contact with a portion of the circumference of the other cylinder, whereby'rotation of the auxiliary cylinder is efiected by the joint action of both sets of driving-bands; movable bearings for the auxiliary cylinder, guideways for said bearings, inclined at an angle of substantially forty-five degrees, and means to oppose the bodily movement of the auxiliary cylinder due to the conjoint action thereupon of the tension exerted by both sets of driving-bands.

2. In spinning, twisting and similar machines, two opposed sets of spindles, drivingbands therefor; main and auxiliary drivingcylinders of the same diameter, arranged in parallelism between the sets of spindles; fixed bearings for the main, positively-driven cylinder, the driving-bands from each set of spindles passing around the driving-cylinder farthest therefrom and with their lower runs in contact with a portion of the circumference of the other cylinder, whereby rotation of the auxiliary cylinder is effected by the joint action of both sets of driving-bands; movable bearings for the auxiliary cylinder, inclined guideways for-the bearings, and adjustable means acting directly upon and to govern the bodily movement of said cylinder relatively to its own set of spindles and to the lower runs of the bands passing around the main cylinder, to thereby subject all of the bands, in mass, to substantially uniform tension.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HOWARD W. BRAOKEN. Witnesses:

CLARE I-I. DRAPER, FRANK J. DUTCHER. 

